Senior Cost Manager (Banking/FS & IT) | £75k-£90k + 25% Bonus

Official Role Title: Senior Cost Manager - IT & Transformation (banking)

Location: London, Chatham or Wolverhampton - 3 days in the office

Salary: £75,000 - £90,000 + up to 25% bonus, pension + benefits

A well-established UK lender is looking for a Senior Cost Manager to take ownership of the cost agenda across both their on-premise IT estate and their cloud-native Transformation programme. It's a role with real breadth covering budgeting, forecasting, performance reporting, and cost governance across a large and fast-evolving technology landscape.

This is a chance to step into a senior role that combines hands-on financial ownership with strategic business partnering. You'll lead the end-to-end cost process, from budgeting and forecasting through to cash accounting, capitalisation and depreciation. You'll also be the key Finance voice within IT and Transformation, working closely with leadership to shape spend profiles, challenge plans, and tell a clear cost story that senior stakeholders can act on.

It's not just about managing numbers - it's about helping the business understand them. You'll build driver-based models, explain variances, identify cost-saving opportunities, and make complex financial data accessible to both technical and non-technical audiences. You'll also play a central role in developing FinOps capabilities, simplifying models, and improving insight quality across the function.

So, if you experience in:

• Owning budgeting, forecasting, reporting and performance analysis across IT or Transformation cost centres
• Managing project accounting and headcount, including capex, opex and cash reconciliation
• Partnering closely with IT and programme leaders to shape spend and challenge assumptions
• Building driver-based models and analysing variances to explain risks and opportunities
• Leading on cloud cost control and supporting FinOps governance and optimisation

And have:

• 5+ years' experience in cost or management accounting within financial services
• Proven background as a Finance Business Partner working with executive stakeholders
• Solid technical accounting knowledge (IFRS, IAS 16/38, capitalisation and amortisation principles)
• Strong Excel modelling skills, with experience using ERP, GL or forecasting tools (Anaplan a plus)
• Full accounting qualification (ACCA/CIMA/ACA or equivalent) and a hands-on, detail-driven mindset

Then we want to speak with you - and so will they!

This is a role that gives you visibility, influence and the chance to shape how one of the UK's most forward-looking financial services groups manages its technology and transformation investment. If you're looking for a position where finance truly partners with the business, this is it.

We're happy to share the full spec or chat through what makes this team a great one to be part of. Just let us know what works best for you.

info@meetskillful.com / chris.manning@meetskillful.com